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Altidore scores 24th goal in AZ loss, setting new mark for goals in European season by an American

Jozy Altidore’s torrid form figured to set some records, and on Sunday he made a new milestone all his own.

The U.S. Men’s National Team striker scored his 24th goal of the 2012-2013 season in all competitions in AZ’s 2-1 loss to Waalwijk. The goal helped Altidore break the record for goals in a season in all competitions by an American, a record he shared with Clint Dempsey, who set the mark last year.

Altidore’s goal on Sunday was his 17th in the Dutch Eredivisie, which puts him in third place in the Dutch League.

Here is Altidore’s latest goal:

https://dailymotion.com/video/xxxa83

What do you think of his latest finish? How many goals do you see him ending the year with? Think he is ready to start scoring goals for the U.S. Men’s National Team again?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If you rewatch most of his goals his season, you can to see that this player number 8 keeps showing up. Adam Maher and Jozy Altidore have a real good connection.

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  2. I don’t understand this reflexive need to dismiss the accomplishments of an American player by alleged American fans. Any time and American player makes strides in their sport it’s a rising tide that lifts all boats. There’s a part of me that is genuinely curious as to what it would take to to satisfy this fester. I somehow doubt that goals for the National side would do it.

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  3. Not to be that guy, but Jozy is 4th in goals scored in the Eredivisie, according to the Eredivisie website. Wifried Bony is first at 23, Graziano Pelle and Alfred Finbogason are tied for second with 19, and Jozy is in 4th with 17.It is still an impressive total for JA.

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  4. As far as goals in the Edervisie go, Altidore still only has 16 league goals. I think that’s the same that Bradley had 5 years ago. Also, Earnie Stewart scored 17 league goals back in 1990-91. I’m sure Altidore will surpass both.

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  5. if Bradley was the coach with a goal scorer like Jozy ripping a European record by an American AND nonetheless NOT scoring for the Nats, folks would be blaming Bradley for not knowing how to utilize the weapon!

    with JK as coach, there’s a chorus of apologists blaming Jozy

    joke

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    • Anyone who takes goalscoring production for granted is foolish.

      When JK took over the team changed in many ways. In terms of Jozy he probably lost his most influential partner in crime, LD.

      Clint has continued to score but his style is different from Jozy’s and he never relied as much on the Candian-American as Jozy did.

      For example,,Chelsea brought in two guys who were proven world class goal scorers at the highest levels at the time, Andrey Shevchenko and Fernando Torres. Great players, surrounded by good talent with good coaches. Yet both failed pretty miserably.

      If those guys had a hard time carrying over their goalscoring talents to another team why should Jozy’s struggles be any great shock?

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      • GW, seriously? why should it be a shock? who knows

        but why should it be acceptable? It’s not, and Bradley knew how to use his striker who was not inform. So far, JK has shown he does NOT know how to do it

        hope it changes

  6. I think JK is a good coach, but not a good tactician. Jozy Altidore does not play well as a lone forward, although he has all the talents and skills to do so. Yet tim and time again Klinsmann puts JA alone and up top where he does nothing. But pair Jozy with another striker and some good wingers, he flourishes as we see in the Dutch League.

    Perhaps he magic Soccer Fairy will waive the wand and make JA a great lone forward and JK an astute tactician, but don’t hold your breath.

    By the way, Bony, the Vitesse striker who leads the Dutch League on goals (ahead of JA) came within a whisker of being shipped to Russia, last Thursday which was the close of the Russian transfer period. Several Russian teams were bidding to sign him, UNTIL both Arsenal and Liverpool both told his agent they are interested, so, No deal to Russia. JA will have to beat Bony if he want the Eirdivisie golden boot. But JA will need to start taking Penalty kicks. Bony has 5 penalty goals and leads JA by 4 goals overall. Jozy has not taken any PK’s for AZ.

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    • It’s awesome watching the progression of both Jozy and Bradley as players. Bradley is a bit ahead of Jozy at the moment, but Jozy gives us a more quantifiable way to track his progression with his scoring.

      What impresses me the most about Jozy is the variety of goals. He’s done it all. Rockets from outside the box. Bent balls around the keeper. Powerful headers. Well timed runs. Smart chips over the keeper.

      It boggles the mind to hear people argue “Jozy is our best forward, but he doesn’t fit our system”. If Jozy doesn’t fit our system, and our system isn’t working anyway, why on earth do we keep using it.

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      • Sort of like Klinnsman keeps trying to recreate the same issues and mistakes. How about more progressive tactical lineup ideas. Progressive and not political talk?

      • +1

        think if Bradley was the coach…who would be getting the blame for Jozy’s dearth of goals in a Nats uniform while during the same stretch setting a European record for goals by an American?

      • “crocajun1003 says:

        “hat impresses me the most about Jozy is the variety of goals. He’s done it all. Rockets from outside the box. Bent balls around the keeper. Powerful headers. Well timed runs. Smart chips over the keeper.”

        Jozy has been a pro for about seven years , has 58 caps and 13 goals for the US as well as appearing in the World Cup, Confederations Cup and Gold Cup for the US , has played about 180 first team games for a variety of European teams and for the last two years has been scoring at a rate of about one goal for every two appearances he makes for AZ.

        That’s a full career already for some players.

        I mention all this because the way you talk about Jozy it’s as if he’s some wide eyed newbie. He’s not.

        He’s a veteran striker, a pro who has had these skills all along and, in the last two years has finally found the right set up for himself that would help him shows those skills and play his best.

        Watch Gomez and Dempsey some time, two other seasoned pro strikers. They can and have scored goals in as wide a variety of ways as Jozy has. It’s what you should expect from guys with their credentials.

    • Jozy plays much better for the USMNT with Gomez. I believe the biggest reason why is because Gomez is so good at making runs off the ball and bringing the midfielders into play by combining with them. Jozy feeds off of that, but he has gotten much better doing it for AZ too.

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      • +1. This is a great comment. the two play off each other (and Dempsey) really well. And Gomez is pretty good at getting back defensively also.

  7. Dutch league defending is to blame.. I mean Luis Suarez took the league by storm, and now he’s anonymous in the Premiership right?

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    • The English Premier League is played so fast it dilutes fundamental skills in the game..kinda wonder why so many foreigners become stars in the EPL.

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      • … Are you serious? People hate Jozy so much they are willing to rip the English Prem League to try to make a point? Pathetic…

    • No…Suarez is one of the leaders in goals. Please refrain from making about someone if you don’t know how he is playing.

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  8. Another good finish from Altidore. Scored under yet another a type of set up,

    Jozy is better now than he was 365 days ago. Good to see.

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  9. you jozy haters are so damn annoying. “he still sucks for the nats” “it was only the dutch league”

    repeating your weak statements on every thread isn’t going to change anything. so please go away. we get it. you don’t think Jozy is good and he is only scoring because he plays in Holland, which you rate very lowly.

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  10. I’d like to see him hit 30 for the season.

    It was a smart finish, very impressed by the moments before the finish as well.

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    • 30 goals for Jozy across all competitions is definitely within reach. And dig how he timed his run to avoid the offside flag and get a 1 v 1 vs the onrushing keeper.

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      • I believe I set the over/under as 35 across all comps. Of course last year I predicted 25. I was wrong. He only got 24. He’ll probably stop at 34 to spite me…

  11. left foot ? Jozy has transformed himself as a player.. he first touch has improved and so has his finishing and confidence with the ball under pressure. It is clear that he cant play this way for us because of the system of play and no fault of his own . Wish the dude all the best and hope he moves on to the EPL , Germany or Italy soon.. those leagues are fitting for his style and will see him improve even more as a player also.

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    • The system isn’t the issue, it’s the service that he is getting…..which is for the most part non-existent. The Nats aren’t able to keep the ball especially in the attacking third when space is closed down and they have less time on the ball…thats due to player selection. They need someone ahead of Jones/Bradley that is calm on the ball, creative, and able to pick out the right passes….the Jones/Bradley/Williams or Jones/Bradley/Edu pairings isn’t working. It would help to actually play a true winger too…to create a little more space for the advanced MFs and Altidore.

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      • What you said is so painfully obvious, I’m surprised none of the posters on this comment section mentioned it until you did. It’s not surprise that since Donovan has left the national team, Jozy’s goals have disappeared. Not having Donovan and Dempsey has hurt Jozy more than any other player on the national team. Jürgen has countered by playing three CMs who are at their best playing deep-lying or holding mid roles. I’ve heard rumors Jürgen is planning to leave out one of these guys and play Bradley and Jones together if they have the understanding to stay back when the other goes forward. This seems like a step forward but until I see who Williams is replaced with, I won’t say anything.

  12. His numbers are inflated due to Dutch league D. I’m neither overly encouraged or discouraged by how Jozy plays with AZ. Does Jozy never score for MNT due to our lack of service/JK or does he only score in the Dutch league because of the pathetic D? No one can know….

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    • How do you know that his numbers are inflated due to the Dutch league D? Simply because scoring in the Dutch League is higher does not prove that an individual’s scoring statistics are inflated.

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      • Except that it isn’t. With the exception of PSV(GD of 50+), the Eredivisie and BPL are very close in GF, GA and GD, top of the table to the bottom.

    • We know that in World Cup qualifying FOUR YEARS AGO under Bob Bradley, Altidore led the USin scoring on their way to finishing first in CONCACAF, despite not doing jack for any of his club teams (and sometimes not playing at all), and that was when he was a raw teenager with half the skills he has now. Fact.

      Klinsmann is a fraud, nothing more than a motivational speaker telling American fans what they want to hear. (my opinion)

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      • totally agree, the problem is the coach. when coaching any team ” the players that you have available decide the system not the other way around., unless your Brazil and have so many potential quality players that you can decide any system that you want.

      • I agree with you; however, you have to look at the context of the situation to really appreciate why Klinsmann was hired:

        American coaches haven’t had the confidence to try to coach the team to play like their opponents play. The US teams skills are not dramatically different from many of their foes that play “a more attractive style”. Klinsmann was hired to help coach American players up to that confidence level, to push the style of the team. Most coaches would be too timid to do that because they don’t want to look stupid for a couple years while their players get used to playing a way no other American coach let them play. I’m confident that regardless of how our USMNT performs in World Cup Qualifying that Klinsmann was the right hire at the right time. Maybe we won’t make the World Cup but the flashes of brilliance that his team has had will be inspirational for years to come and help instill confidence in subsequent coaches that the USMNT is not just a team built on a defensive system but a versatile team. Doing so will just make it easier and easier for the USMNT to attract the best coaches and subsequently develop better teams and better players. The US is playing “the long game” with the USMNT with the Klinsmann hire; American fans are too obsessed with immediate returns to appreciate that.

    • This argument is stale and incomplete. The style of a league is a factor to be considered in evaluating a player, not a black and white determining factor. The Dutch League has quality. Much of the quality in the Dutch league lies with offense based players and style of play that history has shown to translate well in other leagues. In a league with high offensive output, goal scoring numbers must be compared to those playing under the same conditions… in other words… JA is being graded on a curve.

      A key point I would call attention to is the variety of ways he is scoring… diagonal runs, beautifully weighted chippys, blasts from outside, strong turns in the box… not too many gimmes, lots of quality. It is not only the numbers that are impressive, but where he stands in comparison to his peers. Last I checked there was only one better. In any classroom, that’s an A+.

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    • How about a little analysis? He has almost half of his team’s goals in league play. He is in the top four in scoring in spite of being on one of the league’s lowest scoring teams. Maybe you could make this argument against him if he was on PSV or one of the other teams that dominate and pour in buckets of goals, but it just doesn’t hold for Jozy on this team.

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      • zzeroparticle,

        This is not the NFL. You can’t really evaluate a team’s record that way.

        Particularly since Dutch league teams don’t play CONCACAF teams.

    • Trying to rate the Dutch league and it’s D is almost pointless.

      The fact is, Jozy is #3 in scoring in a major European league (#1 if you eliminate PK’s). If he was #10 or #15, then I would buy the D sucks argument more, but he’s #3 in the entire league, and his team isn’t even doing that well. He has talent and hopefully with continue to grow as a player with a move to a bigger league and continued scoring.

      That said, like everyone else, I think his lack of production with the USMNT is peculiar, given his club success. There are many factors in play, tactics, service, his own confidence, etc. Personally, I think he’s due for a big game, and then his confidence will grow and he will lead the US in scoring this qualifying cycle again.

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  13. That goal was pure class. Beat the offsides trap, then calmly lifts it over the on-rushing keeper off of the half-volley perfectly placed in the corner. Class, Class, Class…Class.

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    • Altidore’s performance with the nats has more to do with the coach and the system used in the national team set up than Jozy’s individual capabilities. Indeed, it’s no surprise that a number of our national team players play better with their clubs than with the U.S. Play a different system that is suited to the capabilities and positions of our players you’d probably see different results not only from Altidore but others as well.

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      • Akiva,

        The USMNT regulars includes players from the following clubs, Everton, Hannover 96, Nurmberg, Stoke City, Brondby, Galaxy, Hoffenheim, Real Salt Lake, Bursaspor, Schalke, Roma, Xolos, Santos Laguna, SKC, Sounders, Molde, Spurs, AZ.

        Assuming I did not miss any that is at least 18 different teams. I haven’t checked to see what all of them play but I assume they don’t all play the same system, the same way.

        I also assume that just because a player plays a certain position at their club,that does not mean it is their best position or the only one they can play well.

        It’s easy enough to say “Jozy scores more than anyone so let’s configure everything to him” except for the fact that AZ is flirting with relegation. Jozy may be forced to move next season.

        So does that make sense?

        In soccer, it does not work well to have personnel who are great only at manufacturing goals. This is not the NFL where you have discrete offensive, defensive and special team units. You have eleven guys and they all have to work together on offense and defense.

        It was Jozy himself who said the player has to adapt to the team’s system not the other way around.

      • I was with you until the penultimate statement. It seems to me that if in a starting XI you NEED one guys who is “only great at manufacturing goals”.

    • When you have a midfield consisting of 3 defensive midfielders and not one attacking player, combined with fullbacks incapable of providing any width in midfield (since we don’t use wide midfielders) it isn’t any surprise that Jozy, and any other Striker, have a really hard time scoring goals. None of them, except Clint Dempsey, are the type to create goals for themselves.

      This is why the # of goals scored by Strikers in general, and Jozy in particular, under Klinnsmann is pathetically low. It seems that people wish to forget about all the goals and good work Jozy did under Bob Bradley….

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  14. beautiful finish. he needs to get to the point where any breath of daylight turns into a shot on goal with a chance at scoring. it seems like he is well on the way to that.

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